SHILLONG, APR 30: The process of rehabilitation of over 200 hawkers and street vendors, who are currently running their businesses in Khyndailad area, will be completed within June, this year.

The exercise is necessary to make Khyndailad as a ‘pedestrian zone’ and as a ‘music hub’ – to welcome tourists and visitors to Shillong, also known as the music capital of India.

Speaking to reporters after attending a strawberry festival held at the commercial hub on Tuesday, Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh said, “We have decided to declare Khyndailad as a pedestrian zone, where there will be no vehicular traffic (inside the commercial hub). We have already made tremendous progress in this respect and within the month of June, we should be in a position to relocate about 200 street vendors, who are currently operating and running their businesses in Khyndailad. They will be rehabilitated.”

He informed that the Shillong Municipal Board is already on the job and “we expect that they will be able to complete the rehabilitation process by the end of June”.

“Once that happens, Khyndailad will also become a music hub…We have been calling ourselves the music capital of India and therefore this is just the right place where anybody who lands in Shillong will first be welcomed by the sound of music, our tunes. Our performance artists will be there throughout the year to entertain visitors to Shillong,” Lyngdoh added.

He said that a stage will be set up permanently at the venue to provide a platform for budding as well as accomplished musicians, who will be entertaining travellers as well as locals, who are music enthusiasts while adding “We intend by July by this year, we should be able to start this bustling zone/music zone within the entire stretch of Khyndailad.”.

Asked if the street vendors are willing to cooperate with the government’s decision, the minister informed that “We have completed the entire process right from notifying, identifying and also registering these vendors. We are at a very close of the exercise and now what remains to be done is the rehabilitation of these hawkers physically within the Khyndailad area but away from the streets, the roads and footpaths of Khyndailad.”

“We have worked out the vending zone with SMB. So the MUDA has also come forward to lend its support and we expect that in these shopping areas identified within the MUDA complex here at Khyndai Lad, these 200 hawkers will be rehabilitated,” he added.

Stating that the government has taken everybody on board, Lyngdoh however said, “Of course we cannot expect cent per cent support from everybody but we will also recall that there was a major fire incident that has happened within this area and the entire building was razed and destroyed in the fire and the fire tenders were not able to reach on time because of obstruction and occupation of almost the entire road by hawkers, that itself it a wake-up call for the government of Meghalaya.”

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